Redfield Revolution Rifle Scope Review

Redfield Revolution Rifle Scope Review

Posted on: 10/21/11

[1]

The Redfield brand has a long history with the North American hunter. The Redfield Gun Sight Company produced a variety of rifle scopes for the American sportsman until its closing in 1998. Today its not unusual to see hunters in the field still using various Redfield scopes produced in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Leupold and Stevens purchased the right to the Redfield brand and intellectual property in 2008 and began producing new Redfield scopes a few years ago. For this review we will be taking a look at the Redfield Revolution 4-12x40mm scope with Accu-Range reticle.

The Redfield Revolution scope line up comprises only four scopes: 2-7x33mm, 3-9x40mm, 3-9x50mm, and our review model the 4-12x40mm. Each scope is available in either a 4-Plex reticle or the Accu-Range reticle. The 4-plex is nothing spectacular and is similar to nearly any other duplex reticle on the market. The Accu-Range reticle is a more interesting ballistic reticle that can be used for a variety of bullet drop holds for magnum and non-magnum cartridges.

The Redfield Revolution 4-12x40mm Rifle Scope.

The Accu-Range reticle can accommodate two groups of cartridges based on their muzzle-velocity and trajectories. For most magnums, the center cross-hair will be used with a 300 yard zero and with most non-magnums the center cross-hair will be used with a 200 yard zero. Each mark below the cross-hair will be an additional 100 yards giving a total variation of up to 300 yards. Leupold has placed a chart for the various cartridges on the Redfield website available here: http://www.redfield.com/riflescopes/redfield-accu-range-cartridge-groups[2]. Overall the Accu-Range is on the basic side of entry level ballistic reticles; however having any ballistic reticle options at all at this price point is a plus.

Our review model has excellent eye relief with at least 3 inches or more of relief even at the highest power. On the low power setting the eye relief is considerably more than 3 inches, which is excellent for those that are concerned about crowding the scope. Usually, with entry level scopes, the eye relief can be quite short and it is nice to have the full eye relief of a higher end scope in an entry level offering.

The power ring is separate from the eye piece.

Optical quality is very good with a crisp clear image that is similar to the view through a Leupold VX-I. Low light clarity is good and there does not appear to be any edge or rim aberrations in the optical image.

Adjustments to the reticle are made by turning the windage and elevation turrets which are click adjustable. The turrets are solid with knurled edges that can be quickly adjusted without the use of a coin or screw driver. Seeing and feeling the click of the adjustment also helps when sighting in a rifle.

The turrets can be adjusted without a coin or screw driver in quarter MOA clicks.

There are a couple of rather minor downsides to the Redfield scopes. First, they use a rather rough matte finish and there are no other finish options in the lineup. While optically the Revolution may be very similar to a Leupold VX-I, the finish is considerably rougher than anything in the Leupold VX lineup. Second, there is no included lens covers or even something simple to cover the scope. Granted, scope manufactures are not required to provide anything to protect the scope at the time of purchase, but it seems to be par for course to have at least a basic lens cover included with the scope. The lack of a scope cover is a small additional cost that you may want to factor into your purchase of a Redfield.

The Redfield Revolution scopes are a strong offering in the entry level scope category. Our review model comes in at $219 with some Redfield scopes starting at around $150. Considering the good optical properties and the backing of Leupold's full lifetime warranty, the Redfield scopes are worth considering if you are in the market for a new rifle scope this fall.

Don’t let it fool you, late season food plots do work. Many people believe that the only time to plant a food plot is during spring but this is not true!! This spring and summer like many people I worked all the time leaving little time for the outdoors. That time was spent scouting areas and hanging tree stands. I didn’t think that I would be able to plant a successful food plot for the 2010 hunting season. But boy was I wrong. I had never planted a fall foot plot before fall 2010, and I...